The Hot Yam! is the University of Toronto's all-volunteer lunch party! Once a week we cook up a delicious, mostly local, mostly organic and entirely
vegan lunch all for a measly $4. We serve lunches from 12-2pm, every Thursday at the International Student Centre (33 St. George St). To find out more about
what we do, join our mailing list, or to volunteer (yes please!), come visit us or send love notes to hottestyam@gmail.com.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Last Thursday was our first day back from a long hiatus. It was wonderful. Sorry we ran out of food and had to turn some of you away. The main reason for this? Shortage of volunteers. So send hottestyam@gmail.com an email and ask how you can help out! No cooking experience necessary. No, really! Come learn with us! (or show us your skills if you have em)

Before I get to Thursday's recipes, we had a little event a couple weeks ago:

In a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat, stir half the olive oil and the 2 cloves garlic until fragrant,being careful not to brown garlic, about 1 minute. Pour the oil and garlic into a food processor. Wipe out the pan and set aside.

Add white beans, lemon juice, and salt to the food processor and whirl until smooth. Pour into a serving bowl.

Return the frying pan to medium heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and the rosemary sprigs.

Warm the rosemary in the olive oil until fragrant, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally so the rosemary doesn't burn. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes.

Set the rosemary aside and drizzle the olive oil over the bean dip. Mince one teaspoon of the rosemary leaves and sprinkle over the dip.

CURRIED LENTIL DIPmakes 8 cups

2 cups red lentils

5 cups water

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 cups diced onions

3 cups peeled, cored and diced apples

6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

½ cup raisins

2 tsp curry powder

2 tsp garam masala

½ cup coconut milk

4 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp salt

Bring lentils and water to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 20 min.

Heat the oil in a separate skillet, sauté the onions, apples, and garlic with salt for 5 min @ med heat. Add the raisins, curry powder, and garam masala and sauté for 10 more minutes or until tender.

In a food processor or blender, purée the cooked lentils with the sautéed onion mix with the coconut milk and lemon juice. Add salt to taste.

Pour contents into a sanitized plastic bag. Shake so the contents mix well.

Refrigerate contents for next day.

THUMBPRINT COOKIESMakes about 18-20 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 oz Earth Balance Vegan Butter - at room temperature

¼ cup sugar

1/3 cup mixed-fruit jam (or any other of your choice)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 7-8 mins.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour and ground walnuts and add to the creamed butter mixture. Mix until well combined to form a soft dough. Do not knead a lot as this can get pretty sticky. Use some all-purpose flour for dusting.

Now refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. This makes is easier to shape the cookies.

Take a teaspoonful of dough in your hand, form a small ball, and press lightly in the center with your finger to make a shallow hole. (Use light pressure with your thumb or index finger.)

Arrange the cookies on the baking trays, 2 inches apart. Leave enough space as they will spread a bit as they bake. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are slightly colored and the cookies look firm.

Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack, then fill the holes with your favorite jam.